On Display: Shelley Thorstensen Counterpoint - The Leap from Vision to Print

April 3-July 31

Shelley Thorstensen
A Mother’s Heart, 2002
Etching, relief, and screen print, 7 ¾ x 9 ¾ in.
Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia
Purchase, Charles Knox Smith Fund, 2003

Our eyes are tactile organs. We trace form, the feel of what we see; we see and remember. Thorstensen’s work takes an unmediated leap from vision to print. Traditional printmaking - intaglio, lithography and silkscreen - marry seamlessly in layer upon layer, attesting to external and internal reflections, to the duality of body and mind. Ultimately, Thorstensen uses printmaking technology as a tool, not unlike a brush on canvas, to create work that records the splendor around us as well as the uncertainty of our existence.

On Display: Philadelphia Story

April 10-August 1
Reception: Saturday, May 8, 5-7pm

In the last 30 years, interest in figurative painting has returned worldwide. Philadelphia’s own rich native tradition of image-based painting has grown as the city’s artists have followed pluralistic and often idiosyncratic paths. Offering a range of approaches to imagery, meaning, and metaphor in contemporary painting, this exhibition, curated by Sarah Roche, offers a unique Philadelphia vision of figurative and narrative painting.

This exhibition features the works of 17 exceptional Philadelphia artists: Anne Canfield, Mike Cole, Sidney Goodman, Frank Hyder, Jane Irish, Kate Javens, Rob Matthews, Pamela McCabe, Sarah McEneaney, Susan Moore, Jen Packer, Sarah Roche, Hiro Sakaguchi, Bob Scheib, Charles Schmidt, Mark Shetabi, and Ira Upin.

Coming up...

Contemporary Painting: Focus on Figuration

$70 non-member ($35 members)Mondays, May 10, 17, 24

11am-noon

 

This three-part series looks at contemporary painting with a focus on figuration.  Beginning with the traditions established by the French Academy, we’ll examine the way modern painters such as Cezanne, Matisse, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Rodin and others have stepped away from the academic to find new and modern ways of presenting the figure. Our discussion will then move onto contemporary artists who continue to work in and push the boundaries of the figurative tradition: John Currin, Jenny Saville, and Elizabeth Peyton. The series will close with an interview and discussion with the Philadelphia painter, Michael Bartmann, who will share his thoughts and personal inquiries into contemporary painting today. There will be plenty of time for audience questions and discussion.

Gallery Talks:

Thursday, April 15, 2pm
Shelley Thorstensen, artist, tours Counterpoint: The Leap from Vision to Print

Thursday, May 13, 2pm
Sarah Roche, artist and curator